There is a well-known desire to maintain security of certain online accounts, particularly financial accounts such as bank accounts, credit card accounts, brokerage accounts, currency exchange accounts, online gaming accounts, etc., as well as other types of accounts that may store valuable information, such as hospital databases, legal databases, etc., or infrastructure accounts, such as utility services, military services, etc. Conventionally an online account may be protected with certain login information, which may be as simple as a user_name/password, or may be more sophisticated, such as two-factor authentication which augments the user_name/password with a verification code transmitted to a user's cell phone.
The service providers responsible for maintaining the online accounts typically employ complex security measures to safeguard the login information to prevent hackers from breaking into and stealing funds and/or valuable information from the accounts. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility and actual instances of hackers circumventing the safeguards employed by service providers leading to theft from online accounts. There is also the possibility and actual instances of hackers discovering a user's login information from the users themselves, such as through email phishing techniques and other forms of nefarious communication and malware. There is, therefore, a need to improve the security measures employed to safeguard online accounts of any kind.